SSD vs HDD

SSD vs HDD

If you want a faster computer, or looking at buying a new laptop or PC, you may be faced with the decision of which storage device you should choose. 

With a variety of choices on size, speed, format and capacity, the question of SSD or HDD storage will undoubtedly cross your mind. But which should you go for?

Both SSDs and HDDs are storage devices, this is where you store all your pictures, documents and music etc. However, the 2 work in very different ways and each has its advantage and disadvantage. 

HDD 

HDDs stand for Hard Disk Drives, and as the name suggest, there is a disk inside the drive. The disk rotates and your data is written on the surface. HDDs use magnetism to store your data, an arm hovers above the disk and magnetically reads and writes your data. 

The faster the disk spins the quicker the HDD can perform, such as booting your computer, loading programs and transferring data. Speed is measured in RPM (revolutions per minute)

HDDs have been around since the mid 50's and since then, capacities, reliability and speed have improved. HDDs are the cheapest of the 2 and usually starts as low as £20. They can hold much more data and you can usually find sizes up to 4TB. 

SSD

SSDs stand for Solid State Drives, they have no moving parts, and instead use flash memory. 

An SSD has read and write speeds between 35 to 100 microseconds, which is nearly 100 times faster than a HDD. This quicker access speed allows software and programs to load much faster. This will dramatically improve the time it takes for a computer to load. As the SSD doesn't need a physical disk, the drive is much smaller than a HDD and therefore is an ideal solution for both desktops and laptops. 

As SSDs have no moving parts, they tend to use less power and create almost no noise. With the lack on internal movement, they create hardly any heat, reducing the risk of data loss. 

The main disadvantage of an SSD is their current cost in relation to their capacity. Maximum size you can tend to get at the moment is 512GB setting you back around £150.

If you wish to discuss improving your computers speed, then please get in touch by visiting www.ourtechnician.co.uk or email info@ourtech.co.uk

PC Healthcheck

Is you PC running slow? Taking an age to turn on or would have been quicker to just deliver the message personally. Computers, like all of us will slow down as they age, however looking after our tech will keep things running smoothly and with less frustration. 

There are some very simple house keeping tasks you can do to keep your computer maintained. 

Virus Protection

Firstly, making sure your computer is protected in the first case. Virus protection is the key to keeping those threats out and away from your computer. There are many types of security packages but that's for another blog :)

Make sure your security is kept up to date and any warnings are addressed immediately. After all, if we left the front door open, we would close it right? Virus security is like that, keep your door open or damaged and expect an intruder. 

Disk Cleanup

Temporary files on your computer will be littered all over your hard drive, and overtime this will start contributing to the slowness of your computer. Clearing these files out, deleting your history, cookies and internet cache will help to eliminate your woes of a slow computer but also gain some perhaps well needed hard drive space back. 

Disk Defrag

Another task you can complete to help boost your PCs speed is to defrag your hard drive. As you start storing large data files on your pc, the hard drive will break these down into smaller chunks and place them in different locations on your hard drive. When your computer needs to access the files, usually a program file, it has to piece together the large file before it can action on it. By defragging, it will piece together all these large files into a more sensible and logical format so your computer can access them quicker. This process is very time consuming but on older computers, it sometimes is the most effective. SSD's don't need defragging, another blog will explain this...

Startup Programs

As your computer starts, so does many other hidden programs in the background. The majority of these programs don't need to start with the computer and will only hinder the boot times. Preventing these programs starting will dramatically improve boot up times. 

Our Technician, can complete all these task for you in the comfort of your own home. Book a Health Check/ Service and we can get your computer running as good as new. 

www.ourtechnician.co.uk or Contact us here to send a message